Decide who the person is before you generate
Ask an image model for "a cute girl" and you get a different person every time. Fix the face, hair, eye colour, build and mood in writing first and the model keeps to it. CromStudio's character editor is organised as tabs for appearance, persona, voice and outfits for exactly this information.
Start with the name and a profile. Write what kind of life the character has lived, what they hide, and how they behave when angry. Characters defined only by a role (heroine, rival) tend to come out flat in both images and dialogue.
Describe the look in words and with reference images
The appearance tab takes face, hairstyle, hair colour, eyes and build, plus a free-text appearance memo. Two or three recognisable details, such as a mole, the way the fringe parts, or an accessory always worn, reduce variation between generations.
You can also register art-style references. They align line weight, shading and the degree of stylisation, so several characters drawn from the same reference sit together naturally in one work.
- Always specify hairstyle, hair colour and eye colour; if omitted they change every time
- Keep body-type traits to a few; too many cancel each other out
- Write what you want drawn, not what you do not want; negative instructions are weak
Generate a model sheet and adopt it
Once the profile is in place, pick an image model and generate a four-angle model sheet. Models differ in style and coin cost, and the cost is shown before you run. The model sheet you adopt becomes the reference for later manga panels, animation and chat standing art.
If the result is off, adjust the appearance memo or references before regenerating. Regeneration also costs coins, so confirm your writing approach on the first character before moving to the rest.
Add outfits, items and standing art
If clothing changes between scenes, register outfits in the asset library and compose them with the character as looks. Up to six assets of one type can be generated in a batch for the cost of one run. Registered looks are assigned per scene in manga and in animation prep.
Standing art is used in the character chat screen and in animation compositions. Expression variants and a lip-moving standing video can be produced for the same character, so one set serves several purposes (each of these uses coins).
Where the character can be used
A registered character shares the same profile across manga artwork, animation, reader chat and branching stories. Even before a work exists, you can publish the character alone to the crom manga app (publishing requires agreeing to the distribution terms and an icon image).
